We are always manifesting. Each thought we have creates an energy flow within and around our physical being. This energy attracts its likeness. So if you’re thinking, “I suck,” then your energy kinda, well, sucks–and you attract sucky experiences.

The opposite experience occurs when you think high-level thoughts like, “I rock!” When you think and feel, “I rock,” you exude an energy of confidence and in turn attract great experiences into your life. Each thought you have informs your energy, and your energy manifests into your experiences. Your thoughts and energy create your reality.

Manifesting Mishaps
Manifestation has become a buzzword lately. Though it’s totally awesome that the Law of Attraction is now trendy, it also can be a bit misleading for folks who are unwilling to do the heavy lifting. If you truly want to use your energetic power to manifest greatness, you must clear all that blocks you from believing in your greatness.

A Course in Miracles teaches that on some level, you’ve asked for everything that happens in your life. Your intentions create your reality. There’s no need to beat yourself up: simply recognizing how your low-level thoughts negatively affect your life is the first powerful step toward changing your experiences. Begin your manifesting process by getting honest about how your low-level thoughts, energy and feelings of disbelief block you from receiving what you desire. Once you get clear about the blocks, you can begin to clean them up to clear space for positive manifestations to occur.

Many people, when trying to manifest, focus too much on the outside form rather than the internal condition. From A Course in Miracles’ perspective, what’s important is our internal experience: whether we choose to experience love or fear. When we commit to our internal experience of love, we begin to attract more love. Many people approach manifestation from a place of “How can I get something to feel better?” Instead, the focus should be: “How can I feel better and therefore be an energetic match for attracting more greatness into my life?” The emphasis must be placed on healing the internal condition, not getting a hot new car or boyfriend.
The Five Principles for Manifesting Your Desires
Below are my five key principles for genuine manifesting. When practicing these steps, make sure to stay committed to the goal of feeling good first and attracting stuff second. Continue to remind yourself that when you feel good you energetically attract goodness into your life. When your primary function is to be happy, then whatever comes to you is irrelevant. Happiness is your true manifestation.
Principle One: Clear Space
Before you begin the manifestation process you must take the necessary time to release all your disbelief in your power to be happy. One of the best ways to clear the blocks of disbelief is to pray for release. Begin a daily prayer practice of asking the Universe to set you free from all the limiting beliefs that block you from believing in your greatness. Stay open for signs from the Universe and show up for the assignments that are brought to you. Universal assignments come in many forms. Maybe you’re guided to the relationship that brings up all your shit so that you have to finally heal your fear. Or maybe you lose your job so that you can learn the lessons of self-reliance and strengthen your self-love. Trust that these assignments, however tough at times, are incredible opportunities for you to clean your energy and clear space to call in what you desire.

Your job in this step is to pray for guidance to clear all that blocks you from believing in your greatness. Then allow the Universe to help guide you to whatever assignments you need to aid in the healing process. Show up for the assignments and trust that the more you clean your thoughts and energy, the more positive experiences you will attract into your life.

Principle Two: Get Clear
Clarity is king when it comes to manifesting your desires. You must have clear intentions for what you want to call in–otherwise you can manifest a lot of what you don’t want. Focus on what you desire and then make a list of all that goes along with it. If you’re getting clear about the job you want, make a list of all the things about the job that make you happy: the office, the people, the salary, etc. Be unapologetic about what you want. This list helps you clarify your intentions and access a vibrant mental picture of what you desire.

The most important part of this step is to clarify how you want to feel. When you get clear on how you want to feel, you can begin to access that feeling. That feeling is what makes the manifestation come into form. You can write a thousand lists and make a million vision boards, but if you don’t clearly feel what you want to experience, it will never truly manifest into form.
Principle Three: Think It, Feel It, Believe It!
Now let’s put these steps together. Take your clear intention and spend time every day sitting in the feeling of what it is that you desire. You might access the feeling through meditation and visioning exercises. Or call on the feeling when you’re in nature or doing a form of exercise you love. Let the thought inform the feeling and let the feeling take over your energy. The more you feel the feeling of what you desire, the more you believe it is on the way. From a metaphysical perspective, if you believe it then it is already here. So make time for contemplating, thinking, feeling and believing.

Principle Four: Chill!
The next step is crucial to the manifestation process. In order to truly manifest your desires into form, you gotta chill out! A Course in Miracles teaches: “Those who are certain of the outcome can afford to wait and wait without anxiety.” Take this message with you and allow your faithfulness to guide you into the belief that what you desire is on the way. Also trust that the Universe has a much better plan than you do. Though you are clear about what you want, you cannot control the timing or the form in which it comes. Stay calm, relax and trust that the Universe has your back!
Principle Five: Know the Universe Has Your Back
When you’re in the know you’re deliberate about what you want. When you’re in the know you no longer vibrate energy of fear or disbelief. You just know. As your disbelief wilts away, wanting is replaced by knowing. Getting into the know happens naturally. When you diligently practice steps one through four, you will clean house, get clear and feel happier. This process is healing and powerful, and it leads to a deep inner knowing that you are right where you need to be. Accepting your greatness in this moment, right now, is what manifests more greatness. Being in the know helps you accept that you already are living in your desired manifestation. When you feel it, you live it–regardless of what is happening on the outside. In time, the Universe catches up with your energy and your desires come into form. This process of allowing the manifestation to follow your internal faith is the true process of co-creation.

Stay Committed to Happiness
Stay committed to this five-step process and trust that you’re exactly where you need to be. Is your main desire to feel good? Trust you will be given everything you need to create that feeling. Know that feeling good is the true manifestation–and everything else is the icing on the already delicious cake!

If you want to learn more about Manifesting you can get two free video coaching sessions on the topic. When you order my new book May Cause Miracles you’ll gain access to the course on manifesting. Details here:

This Sunday I’ll be featured on Oprah’s Super Soul Sunday. Mastin Kipp and Marie Forleo accompanied me for a segment on next-generation thought leaders. Sitting next to Oprah for this hour-long interview, I was able to understand the magnitude of her mission. Learn more about my experience in today’s video and the blog below.

Last Monday I got a frantic call from my mother. She breathlessly told me, “There’s someone on your Facebook fan page writing nasty things about you! But don’t worry, honey, I responded and set her straight.” I laughed and said, “Thanks for sticking up for me, Mom, but that’s not how I handle negativity on the Internet.” I went on to explain that as a spiritual student and teacher I must practice what I preach. By bringing my spiritual practice to these situations I intuitively know how to handle haters on the Internet. I helped my mother understand that engaging in the negativity only invests in the negativity. Rather than defend myself and fight back, I’ve learned to see these encounters as divine spiritual assignments. Through compassion, defenselessness and forgiveness, I’ve come to see how mindfully dealing with Internet haters can only strengthen my spiritual faith.

As the Universe would have it, that wouldn’t be my only conversation about Internet haters that week. The following day I was in Chicago, shooting a segment of Oprah’s Super Soul Sunday. What was one of Oprah’s first questions to my panel? She asked how we handle haters on the Internet! My immediate responses was, “Forgive and delete.” I explained how I use forgiveness and several other spiritual principles to shine light on the darkness of the Internet.

If you’re anything like my mother, it’s time to put down the boxing gloves and use my three spiritual tools for handling haters online.

Step 1: It’s Not About You
When people attack us on the Internet, many of us immediately assume that the attack has merit and means there’s something wrong with us. I choose to have a different perspective—I like to have compassion for these folks. Let’s face it: A happy person won’t waste their time posting negativity on positive people’s pages. Therefore, we must have a tremendous amount of compassion for these people. Anyone who wastes their time and energy spreading negativity clearly needs more light in their life. Begin your practice by saying a prayer for the person. Simply say, “I pray for you to release your negativity and see love instead. I pray for you to be happy.” This prayer will immediately reconnect you to a sense of compassion and help you let go of your anger.
Step 2: “In My Defenselessness My Safety Lies”
As a student and a teacher of the metaphysical text A Course in Miracles, I’ve come to learn that “insistence means investment.” When we invest in the illusions of others by defending ourselves or fighting back, we only invest deeper into the craziness. Engaging in negativity creates more of it. Therefore, instead of fighting back or becoming defensive, I remind myself of the Course’s message, “In my defenselessness my safety lies.” Choosing to release defensiveness helps us steer far away from creating more drama. Fighting back is like yelling at a barking dog. There’s no good outcome. Instead, practice defenselessness and witness how much energy and time you save avoiding more drama.
Step 3: Forgive and Delete
The final step is the clutch move. As I said to Oprah, we must forgive and delete. Oprah was pretty psyched to learn that we can actually manage our social media fans. Though we don’t have full control over what people say, we can block nasty people and hide hateful comments. But rather than block and hide with an energy of resentment, let’s forgive first. Forgiveness helps us detach from the negative energy cord that can live even through the Twittersphere or the Facebook universe. Energy is in everything. If we don’t clean up our energy through forgiveness, we’ll continue to carry negativity. In the case of handling haters on the Internet, it’s imperative that you practice the F word and forgive.

Steps one and two will prime for forgiveness. Compassion will reconnect you to a sense of oneness and defenselessness, which will help you put down the boxing gloves and settle into a new perspective. The final step is to let go fully and forgive. In this step you’ll use prayer once again. Simply say, “I pray to forgive you and release you.” Then feel free to block the user or hide the comment. If you have the power to clear the feed, let that become part of your practice. There’s no reason to let negative comments linger. Simply forgive and delete.

Practice Positive Posting
These three steps will help you navigate negative comments on the Internet, but what’s most important is to practice raising the positive energy around you. Where there is darkness we need to bring more light. Therefore, join me in 30 Days of Positive Posting. Commit to refrain completely from negative posts and only share positivity. Post your favorite quotes, retweet inspiring nuggets of wisdom, Instagram enlightening photos, and pin beautiful pictures that make you smile. Our greatest response to negative posts is a positive one. If we all join together to share more positivity and love on the Internet, the energy of love will heighten. And when love spreads, there’s less space for negativity. Join us on November 18 for Super Soul Sunday and keep us posted on how your 30 days of positive posting shifts your energy and your life.

Join me this Sunday 11/18 for my interview with Oprah on her Emmy-winning show, Super Soul Sunday. Details here
For my free guided meditations and lectures visit Gabbyb.tv.
And when you pre-order my new book May Cause Miracles you get awesome gifts & free coaching! Details here.

When I was twenty-five I became a devotee of the spiritual teacher Marianne Williamson. One of her books in particular hit me straight in the heart: A Woman’s Worth. After reading it, I was awakened to a power source within me I had never recognized before. This awesome awakening occurred upon reading the following passage:

“A queen is wise. She has earned her serenity, not having had it bestowed on her but having passed her tests. She has suffered and grown more beautiful because of it. She has proved she can hold her kingdom together. She has become its vision. She cares deeply about something bigger than herself. She rules with authentic power.”

At the time I couldn’t comprehend what it would feel like to “rule with authentic power,” but it sounded really groovy. I wanted to perceive myself as a powerful woman, but deep down I felt like a weak girl seeking my self-worth from outside circumstances. This passage helped me recognize that there were no shortcuts on the path to my authentic power. I would have to show up for life’s assignments and pass my tests to release all that was blocking me from being my highest self. I did just that. Soon after reading this passage I became a student of the metaphysical text A Course in Miracles and began to unlearn my false perception of myself.

past seven years I’ve been a student of the Course. Through my dedicated practice I’ve come to understand that my outside need for approval is what blocked my authentic power. I was searching for meaning in the meaningless world I had projected. My awareness of these blocks was the first step toward releasing them.
The spiritual journey I embarked on left me no wiggle room for small play. I had to surrender to a new perception and chose to seek my power in an internal condition rather than an external circumstance.

Once I became willing to stop looking out there and look inward instead, my entire life changed. I began to earn my serenity and learned to find my source of peace and purpose from an inward condition. My neediness melted away, my insecurity weakened and my self-doubt transformed into self-assurance. In time I became a queen, and today I live in my authentic power.

I work hard each day to maintain my authenticity. A major part of the maintenance process is to know the difference between what it feels like to be living in my truth versus living in my ego. When I’m living in my truth I breathe slowly, I feel fulfilled regardless of what’s going on in my external world, and I exude a genuine confidence that cannot be manufactured.

Living in my ego is quite the opposite experience. When I’m in my ego my energy is frantic, I compare myself to others and I try to be something I am not. Knowing the difference between living in my truth versus acting out from my ego keeps me conscious of when I’m not aligned with my authentic power. This awareness is the key to staying on a path toward authentic truth.

You too have the capacity to live in your authentic power. If you feel out of alignment in any area of your life, use my tools below to recalibrate your authenticity. Follow these steps and you’ll awaken a powerful force within that has been eager to come through you.
Step One: Become Conscious of When You’re out of Your Truth
This exercise will heighten your awareness of what it feels like to be in your trutFor the h in opposition to what it feels like to be out of alignment. Take out your pen and paper and describe the differences between what it feels like to be in your truth versus what it feels like to be in your ego. How do you act differently, talk differently, think and even breathe differently? Pay close attention to the differences in how you feel.
Step Two: Welcome the Assignments
I’ll let you in a powerful secret: When you begin to look at your ego’s false behavior, you’ve unconsciously asked for a miracle. The slight willingness to see things differently is the catalyst for spiritual shifts. These shifts can sometimes be a bit uncomfortable—but that’s a good thing. Remember that we must “pass our tests” to grow into our authentic power.

Step Three: Show Up For the Assignments
Welcome the life assignments that come your way and stay committed to connecting to your authentic truth. Have faith that there are no coincidences and that as the Course says, “no one is sent to anyone by accident.” Every experience you have will be a powerful opportunity for you to strengthen your internal condition. Continuously recite the prayer, “I am willing to know my truth.” Trust that you will be guided.
Step Four: Learn What Authentic Power Means to You
Authenticity is different for each person, but the one defining factor is that authenticity is a feeling, not an action. Throughout this process of awakening your authentic truth, you will come to feel an internal shift. You may not be able to put this shift into words. Simply trust that you’re being led to know much more than what you once perceived to be real. Allow this new feeling to pass through you, guide you and energize you to experience a newfound self-awareness.

Though these steps seem subtle, you can trust that they are igniting transformational shifts within you. Stay committed to this process and invite the energy of the Universe to support your assignments and spiritual growth. Be faithful that your authentic power is all you need to truly share your light with the world.

Featured in the New York Times Sunday Styles section as “a new role model,” motivational speaker, life coach, and author Gabrielle Bernstein is making her mark. Expanding the lexicon for the next generation of spiritual seekers, Gabrielle is the #1 bestselling author of the book, Add More ~ing to Your Life, A hip Guide to Happiness. In September 2011 Gabrielle launched her second book, Spirit Junkie, A Radical Road to Self-Love and Miracles. In 2008 she launched her social networking site HerFuture.com for young women to find mentors.